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The dinosaur from 600 BCE! Interpreting the dragon of Babylon, from archaeological excavation into fringe science

Miller, E; (2021) The dinosaur from 600 BCE! Interpreting the dragon of Babylon, from archaeological excavation into fringe science. Endeavour , 45 (4) , Article 100798. 10.1016/j.endeavour.2021.100798. Green open access

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Abstract

In 1918, German archaeologist Robert Koldewey, excavator of Babylon, Iraq, observed that the depiction of the fantastical "dragon of Babylon" on the sixth century BCE Ishtar Gate must reference a real animal whose closest relatives would be dinosaurs like the iguanodon. Though ignored within archaeology, Koldewey's comments were taken up in German-American popular science writer Willy Ley's "romantic zoology" (1941), then by Bernard Heuvelmans (1955), founding figure in the fringe field of cryptozoology. Their interpretations would ultimately inspire expeditions by the International Society of Cryptozoologists in Central Africa to find the Mokele-Mbembe, a "living dinosaur," and migrate into Young Earth Creationist and ancient aliens theories. An analysis of Koldewey's marginal academic observation serves as a means of considering the process of knowledge formation and canonization and the unpredictable life of scholarly ideas.

Type: Article
Title: The dinosaur from 600 BCE! Interpreting the dragon of Babylon, from archaeological excavation into fringe science
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.endeavour.2021.100798
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2021.100798
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Ancient aliens, Archaeology, Babylon, Berlin, Cryptozoology, Dinosaurs, Fringe science, Museums and zoos, Paleoart, Popular science
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of History
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10138007
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